


Six White Skates

by thepopeisdope



Series: 12 Days of Christmas [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 20:12:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5469479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepopeisdope/pseuds/thepopeisdope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas and Sam convince Dean to go ice skating.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Six White Skates

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the wonderful [Arianna](http://ariwillowtwist.tumblr.com/).

Castiel sees the advertisement while they’re on a case in Washington State. He knows better than to say anything before they find their vampires, though, so he bides his time and waits until the half-dozen members of the nest are located and decapitated. He figures he’s in the clear by then.

“Dean, can we go ice skating?”

Dean looks up with a frown. The expression seems to waver, though, like he’s fighting to suppress amusement. “Are you really asking this right now?”

Castiel shrugs. “The case is over, right? Knowing you, you’ll want to be back on the road toward Kansas within the hour, so logically, this is the best time to ask.”

Dean just squints his eyes at Cas, like he can’t tell if the former angel is joking or not. After a long moment of this, he turns to Sam, helpless. “Is this really happening?” he asks. He has a loose grip on his machete, and drops of blood from his three consecutive beheadings are still rolling off the end. The bodies at their feet are already starting to smell.

“Well, he’s not wrong,” Sam says with a shrug. “You did already say that you want to start heading home tonight. It’s better that he ask now, rather than when we’re on the road.”

“Whose side are you on, here?” Dean demands, looking affronted.

Sam raises an eyebrow. “Dude, since when are there _sides_?” When Dean only continues to stare at him, he rolls his eyes and continues, “Ice skating doesn’t sound too bad, actually. When was the last time we even did something like that, Dean?”

“There’s a nice rink downtown,” Castiel adds, jumping at the support Sam is clearly offering him. “It’s even decorated for Christmas right now. We could go tonight, and still leave for the bunker in the morning and be home by Monday.”

“Come on, Dean, let’s just do it. Just to say we did, if nothing else,” Sam says, imploring. Castiel can’t help but smile at how invested he now is in this, and with none of the prompting that Dean seems to require. A quick glance in the taller man’s direction even reveals that Sam is giving his brother what Dean refers to as ‘puppy dog eyes’, which Castiel knows for a fact are one of Dean’s weaknesses. And then to push it just a little farther, Sam adds, “It could be fun, Dean. Please?”

Dean glares at them both for a brief instant, though the expression lacks any real heat. “Fine,” he finally relents. Then he promptly turns on his heel and stalks toward the exit of the old barn that the vampires had formed their nest in, casually stepping over the corpses in his path. He calls back over his shoulder, “But you bastards get to deal with these bodies first.”

Once he’s out of sight, Sam turns to Cas, a grin on his face. “Worth it?”

“Absolutely,” Castiel confirms, and when Sam raises his hand for a high five, he doesn’t hesitate to oblige him.

~

They arrive at the rink only a couple of hours later, after the vampires have been disposed of and everyone has showered and changed into clean, warm clothes. The area of downtown Seattle where the ice rink is located is busy with people out doing their Christmas shopping, but the immediate space by the rink is not overly crowded, which is pleasantly convenient. They make their way through the entrance to the facility, pay their admission fees, and continue on to the rental counter.

After he gives up his own shoes as collateral, Castiel hardly pays attention to the skate-renting process. He much prefers to watch the people already out on the ice, even though the majority are only skating around the rink in listless circles. There aren’t very many people out there at the moment, leaving enough of the ice exposed enough to reflect back warm glow cast by the strings of Christmas lights that hang over the rink. The golden lights only add to the magical feeling of the entire scene, and Castiel finds himself itching to be a part of it.

“Hey, Cas,” Dean calls, absently snapping his fingers to get Cas’ attention. He’s reading over some form at the counter, and doesn’t look up from it as he points at a pair of white skates propped next to the paper and says, “Suit up.”

Castiel does as he’s told, taking the skates and seeking out a bench to sit on while he laces them up. He spots Sam already doing the same, and plops himself into the empty space at the man’s side. “Have you ever been ice skating, Sam?” he asks, starting to put on the skates.

“Twice, actually,” Sam replies. His skates had already been mostly on when Castiel sat down, and now that he’s finished tying them up, he really has nothing to do but stare at his empty hands while he speaks. “Once when I was with Amelia, during… Well. Purgatory. And once before that, back when I was at Stanford. I took Jess ice skating for one of our first dates. It was, um. It was the first time I ever kissed her, out on that rink.”

There’s a heavy note of sadness in his voice, making Cas pause in the tying of his skates to instead give his focus over to his friend. Sam’s eyes are distant and glassy, no doubt seeing a very different skating rink than the one actually in front of him.

Cautiously, Castiel rests a hand on his shoulder. “Those are both happy memories, are they not?”

Sam nods slowly, though he doesn’t meet his friend’s eyes. “You could say that.”

“Then that’s what matters,” Castiel concludes, putting as much fervor behind the words as he can muster. “If you only dwell on what you have lost, you cannot appreciate the good of what you had then, or what you have now in the present. I believe the phrase goes that ‘it is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all’? I think that may be applicable here as well.”

Sam’s shoulders droop, and he finally turns to face Cas, who is relieved to see that at least some of the sadness has faded from his eyes. “Have you been watching the Hallmark channel?” he asks seriously. “Or Lifetime?”

Castiel’s lips twist up into a smile. “Maybe a little bit of Lifetime. And an obscene amount of Dr. Sexy, M.D..”

Sam snorts, and mutters, “Of course you have.” He’s quiet for a moment, staring absently out at the ice rink again, then asks softly, “Is that your logic with Dean?”

The question makes Castiel tense, and he quickly goes back to tying up his skates. The strings of the left one are in a knot, and resist his (admittedly frantic) first attempts to loosen it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re a terrible liar, Cas,” Sam responds with a weary sigh, and really, that’s all he has to say.

Cas isn’t sure if he’s relieved or disappointed that Sam figured it out. Or whether or not he’s going to be sick. It’s hard to tell. Human emotions are often difficult to decipher.

After a minute, in which he brings himself to the brink of panic and then works his way back down, he asks on a whisper, “How long have you known?”

“Honestly?” Sam lets out a long breath. “It got really obvious after you fell, which isn’t surprising, considering the whole _human_ thing. But… It was before that, too, wasn’t it?”

All Castiel can do is nod. Of course he loved Dean before he fell, even if he never quite had the right words to describe the feeling that burned in his grace at even the mere mention of the elder Winchester’s name. He hadn’t known that was love. All he had known was that the instant his grace touched Dean’s soul in Hell, he was lost to him.

“Don’t…” Castiel clears his throat. He can’t look at Sam right now, and keeps picking resolutely at the knot in his laces. “Just don’t tell him. Please.”

“Cas, I think…”

“God, you guys would not _believe_ all the weird fine print on this place’s liability forms,” Dean says loudly, finally joining them with his own pair of skates in hand. He practically throws himself down onto the bench on Cas’ other side, and gives Castiel and Sam an exasperated look. “I mean, they’ve covered their asses for just about _everything_. I may know shit about law, but I’m pretty damn sure that is some professional work on those things.”

“That’s great, Dean,” Sam says flatly, standing suddenly from the bench. There’s something odd in his tone that makes Castiel look up at him in panic, abruptly fearing that their previous conversation maybe didn’t go over as well as he had thought. Then Sam meets his eye, however, and subtly shakes his head—just enough for Cas to know that that isn’t the issue here. He takes a few steps away from them, surprisingly at-ease balancing on the blades. “I’m going to meet you guys out there, alright? Dean, Cas has a knot in his laces. You should help him out.”

And just like that he’s gone, disappearing in the general direction of the ice.

Dean and Castiel both stare after him for a long moment, in a silence that Dean eventually breaks by saying, “That was weird.” Castiel sees him shake his head out of the corner of his eye, and then he taps Cas on the knee. “Put your skate up between us, I’ll help you with that knot.”

Castiel doesn’t have an excuse to do anything other than oblige him, so he shifts to put his foot in the requested position. Dean doesn’t say anything more before leaning over the skate and getting to work, picking at the knot with far more success than Castiel had. The knot is out after only a few seconds, but his hands continue moving until the skate is completely laced and tied.

“You didn’t have to do the whole thing,” Castiel says quietly once it’s done, feigning checking the laces to avoid Dean’s eyes. Now that Sam has brought up his feelings for Dean, he feels almost awkward in the other man’s presence, like he’s one wrong step away from _Dean_ knowing as well. This extra act of compassion from him doesn’t help the feeling of dread churning inside Castiel’s chest.

Next to him, Dean goes still. Cas can feel his eyes on him now, but in turn Castiel stares out at the ice, still not yet willing to look back and meet his gaze. Dean slowly starts pulling on his own skates, saying as he does, “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to make you feel helpless or anything. It was just kind of automatic.”

And now Castiel feels guilty for letting it worry him. He finally looks over at Dean, shaking his head. “It’s fine, Dean. I’m not offended.”

Dean sighs, and finishes tying his skates. “If you say so, Cas,” he says as he stands. He immediately turns back to offer Castiel his hand to pull him upright, but as soon as this is accomplished, he drops Castiel’s hand again quickly, as though he had been burned. He relocates it to Cas’ elbow when the ex-angel nearly loses his footing on the thin metal blades. “It’ll take some getting used to,” he says kindly, helping Castiel steady himself.

“Thanks,” Cas mutters once he’s straightened out. The skates are unusual to stand on, but now that he has a feel for how to balance on them, he doesn’t think he’ll start to fall again. Dean is still hovering next to him, looking worried, so Castiel nods at him. “I think I got this.”

Dean snorts a laugh. “Really? You’ve never been on skates of any kind in your life, and now three seconds in you think you ‘got this’?”

Castiel gives him a sharp look. “I’m a fast learner.”

Dean shrugs and raises his hands in a show of innocence. “Alright. Want to put that confidence to the test, hotshot?”

Castiel walks off toward the entrance to the ice rink without bothering to reply, set on proving himself. He’s already figured out how to walk relatively normally on the skates, and from what he has observed of the people out skating, it seems straightforward enough.

That turns out to only be partially true.

When he first hits the ice, a few feet ahead of Dean, he manages to at least stay on his feet. Unfortunately, that’s about the only accomplishment he can boast. He has absolutely no control over his movements, and ends up sliding uselessly and unsteadily toward the center of the rink, unable to figure out how to do anything else.

Dean smoothly glides up beside him, smirking in victory. “What was that, Cas? ‘You got this’? How’s that working out for you?”

Cas glares at him. “I learn quickly, Dean, but I have to have something to learn _from_. How do _you_ know how to do this?”

“It’s all about shifting your weight,” Dean instructs, demonstrating by skating a quick circle around him. “Have you ever slid in your socks on the floor of the bunker? I know Sam does it sometimes after I mop, the prick. But it’s just like that.”

Castiel tilts his head as he considers this. He has seen Sam slide across the kitchen floor in his socks, but has never done it himself. He thinks he understands the idea, though, and hesitantly moves his feet in an attempt to replicate it. He has moderate success, and after a few seconds of experimentation and alterations to his technique, he skates a circle around Dean, just like Dean had done to him.

Dean raises an eyebrow. “I’m impressed. But can you go faster?”

Cas can’t help but smile at that. “Is that a _challenge_ , Dean?”

Dean shrugs, unable to suppress his own smile. “It might be. What do you say? Three laps, head to head?”

In lieu of an answer, Cas takes off around the rink, dodging around the other patrons as he sets a pace that borders on ridiculous. He hears Dean call out behind him, something about cheating and head starts, but he pays it no mind.

Ice skating, Castiel realizes, is not very different from flying. Gliding across the ice almost makes him feel like he has his wings again.

He maintains his lead on Dean for the first two laps around the rink, but by the time he’s starting his third, Dean is right on his heels. He feels a hand graze across his elbow, likely in an attempt to slow him down, and kicks his speed up another notch, laughing as he does. He _refuses_ to lose to Dean in this. He has to prove him wrong.

Just as he has this thought, the leading edge of one of his skates hits a rough patch of ice. His momentum works against him, and as soon as his balance is thrown, he crashes down onto the ice with a dull _thud_.

And then to make matters worse, Dean falls right on top of him.

The position they landed in is… awkward, to say the least. Dean is completely covering Castiel, pinning him in with his knees and elbows alike. Furthermore, their faces are only inches apart, their mouths close enough together that Cas can feel Dean’s breath on his lips. He risks a glance down at Dean’s own lips, wondering what would happen if he raised his head up just a bit.

Surprisingly enough, he doesn’t have to wait long to find out. Nor exactly the way he’d expected, since it’s actually _Dean_ who makes the first move, dropping his head to close the gap between them. The kiss is soft and chaste, nothing more than a simple press of lips, but Castiel’s heartbeat is deafening in his ears, and his eyes flutter closed as he leans into Dean.

“You know, guys, this is technically a family facility. You could probably tone down the PDA a bit.”

And just like that, it’s over. Dean jerks upright to stare at his brother, though he doesn’t try to separate his body from Cas’. “Sammy—We were just—I mean, we fell—”

Sam rolls his eyes, but continues to smirk down at them both. “Right, and I’m sure your mouths just _fell_ together. Never mind the fact that I actually _watched_ the whole thing happen. And besides—I’ve been the pincushion for your pining for _how long_ now? And now I’ve done the same thing for Cas. So trust me when I say I don’t need your excuses. Congratulations on finally manning up.”

Cas struggles to sit up, overly aware of the bruises he can feel forming on his hip and shoulder where he hit the ice. He gapes at Sam, suddenly feeling betrayed. “You’re a pincushion for _him_? Why didn’t you tell me that when we spoke earlier?”

Sam shrugs, completely unbothered. “I was going to, but then Dean came back. So I figured it would be best to just leave the two of you alone for a bit, see what happened.”

“You’re an asshole, Sam,” Dean says with a glare. He finally gets to his feet, and hauls Cas up along with him. This time, he doesn’t release Cas’ hand. He’s still looking at Sam when he continues, “And you know what? I think you’ve been misusing your power as a confidant. Don’t you agree, Cas?”

Castiel doesn’t, actually. To be frank, he has no idea what Dean is going on about. He spares the other man a glance and finds himself on the receiving end of a very pointed stare, so he takes it as a cue to play along. “Yes, absolutely.”

Sam, for his part, looks completely bewildered by this change in events. “Whoa, _what_? You guys finally get your shit together, and now _I’m_ the bad guy? What the hell?”

Dean nods seriously. “And now that we’ve established that, Cas and I are leaving. As your punishment, you can find your own ride back to the motel. And you can get your own room.”

Understanding hits Cas and Sam at the same time, but while it makes Castiel grin, Sam blushes bright red. “O-oh. Right. Um… sure. I’ll, uh, call a cab or something. And probably find a bar. You guys… have fun.”

Dean just winks at his brother, and pulls Cas along behind him as he heads off of the rink and back to the skate rental counter. Castiel is starting to question if he maybe hit his head a little _too_ hard on the ice, if this is some kind of concussion dream he has fallen into, and so the retrieval of their shoes passes in a blur. The only thing he is fully aware of is Dean’s hand in his the entire time.

On their way back to the Impala, Dean stops them under a streetlight and kisses Cas for a second time. Castiel feels like he’s floating as he returns the kiss, and when they break apart a few moments later, the only thing he can think to say is, “We should ice skate again sometime.”

Dean laughs, and presses one last kiss against Cas’ lips, before tugging him back into motion as they head in the direction of the car. “Yeah. We really should.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [tumblr!](http://thursdays-fallen-angel.tumblr.com)


End file.
